Ethnographic Research

What is ethnographic research?

1. Focus on ‘the natural’

• Ethnographic research stresses the importance of the natural rather than the experimental

Because…‘the context in which the behaviour occurs has a

significant influence on that behaviour’ (Nunan 53)

e.g. the shape and seating arrangement, and Vietnamese context of this classroom

2. Focus on the subject’s experience - this includes “the… belief systems of those

involved in the research, both as researchers and subjects” Nunan 54

e.g. in this room most people believe that textbooks are useful

3. Focus on the study of group culture in the real world- How individuals and groups interacte.g. student/student and

teacher/student interaction in a language classroom

Features of ethnographic research

1. The researcher does not interfere with the subject or conditions of the research

e.g. Language students are studied in their own classroom rather than in formal interviews

2. Researcher and subjects collaborate

- The researcher and subject work together to find something out

- e.g. a teacher and a student discuss the effects of the student’s working life on her English language learning.

3. Generalisations and hypotheses emerge during the course of the data collection rather than before the research begins

- From the conversation between the teacher and the student it emerges that night shifts may be more helpful than day shifts for her language learning.

The subject then spends two weeks going to day classes and working at night and two weeks working in the day and going to night classes. Her test results show that night classes are more effective for her.

4. Conclusions come from the data themselves. This is called ‘grounded theory’.

The research concludes that there is a strong connection between classroom learning and students’ everyday lives.

Example – Heath’s study

1. Research area – The relationship between first language acquisition at home and literacy practices in school

2. Context – a ten year study of two working class groups – one white and one black in USA

3. Heath’s research question –

How do home and community literacy practices assist students in learning the literacy practices needed to succeed at school and at work?

4. Subjects – students, students’ families and teachers

5. Research procedure- several years as participant researcher- collection of field notes, recordings, transcriptions

of interviews and meetings, children’s songs and writing,

- enormous quantity of date but only a selection was chosen for the final study – why?

7. Conclusion

– home and community language focuses on the contextualised use of language whereas school focuses on a decontextualised use of language.

• Do home and school literacy practices differ in Vietnam?• What kinds of language do schools require?

Do schools accept regional or local differences?• Are language differences a controversial

issue in Vietnam?• Discuss and report from each table

Is ethnography reliable?

Reliability in ethnographic research

Would other researchers using the same data arrive at the same explanations?

- Yes possibly, the recorded data can be analyzed by other researchers, if they have access to the original data

Can it be replicated?- Because each context is unique, exact replication is

not possible. Does this matter?

Is ethnography valid?

Validity

1. Does it explain what it claims to explain?- the research does not start with a claim.

However, it does reach conclusions that must be based on the evidence as it emerges

2. Can it be generalised to other groups?- ethnographic research does not make universal

claims but describes general tendencies arising from specific situations.

Ethnographic Research Exercise

Research topic: – educational change in VietnamContext: – this classroom, Australian MTesol courseSubjects:- Vietnamese educators

Research question:Is there a conflict between Vietnamese culture and

‘western’ approaches to teaching and learning? Procedure:Group discussions - 1 person in each group will give

a summary of the group’s viewsGeneral conclusions will come from the views of

the whole group